A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1966-1967 (Debrecen, 1968)

Mesterházy Károly: Adatok a honfoglalás kori magyar köznépi család szerkezetéhez

bracelets of sheet and rounded-off ends, conical buttons, etc. Only two medals were found in the cemetery, unfortunately both were in an unidentifiable condition. Important to note, grave-goods and jewels were only found in one man's grave. In the first row of graves, the wealthiest woman had two bronze finger-rings, and two S-ended lockrings of thin bronze wire (grave no. 37). In the next grave there were only two lock-rings and one finger-ring (grave no. 38); this was followed by a poorer grave of a woman, then by a man's grave with only one coin in it. The rest of graves in this row were those of children and women in no apparent order. The row included one man, six adult women and three children. The chronology of the row extends from the turn of the 10-11 lth centuries to the middle of the 11th century. The chronology of the cemetery was revealed most clearly by the graves of the second row. The earliest grave was the first in the second row, which was the richest grave of the whole cemetery at the same time (no. 16). Equipment: seven bronze buttons, two plain bronze lock-rings, one bronze wire finger-ring, all gilded. On the basis of several analogies this grave may be dated back to the 970's. On the basis of grave-goods the women of graves no. 18 and 20 can be dated back to the turn of the millenium and to the beginning of the 11th century; the most recent grave of the row was no. 36, to be dated back to the 60's of the 11th century; it contained two S-ended lockrings hammered flat. Only one man's grave contained equipment. The row was terminated by three men's graves with no equipment in them. Structurally, therefore, the starting grave of the row, a woman's of status, was followed by lower-ranking and more recent graves of women. The row contained 13 graves, five women, one juvenile, and seven men. So the row is a regular representation of three generations of a joint family, from which the separation of the new joint families started already at the second generation. The other rows (joint families) except for the first could all be derived from this row. In the first two graves of the third row we found wealthy, braceleted women, followed by a destroyed grave, than by two graves of men in coffins, one containing a coin. These graves can be dated back to the turn of the 10-1 lth centuries and to the beginning of the 11th; the other graves of the row contained finds characteristic of the middle of the 11 th century. The first female graves of the rows agreed in age with grave 20, so they were more recent by one generation than the earliest burials (female grave no. 16 and pertinent male grave). The row contains the dead of two generations. The richest part of the fourth row was destroyed completely, only the graves of the poor family members were left. The fifth row started with a wealthy woman's grave, but it already contained an S-ended lockring indicating that the burial was early in the 11th century. Taken as a whole, this grave seems to be more recent by one generation if compared to the starting graves of the third row. Only one man's grave remained intact in this row in addition to the above; the rest were destroyed during previous earthwork. In the sixth row, again two of the poorer graves were left intact, the others had been despoiled. The children's graves were neigbouring the rich women's graves and located in theS part of the cemetery. Children's graves located between those of adults were found exceptionally. The age of the cemetery as a whole is determined by the age of the graves of the second row ; it was in use from the 970's to the 60's of the 11th century, which means that burials were discontinued here about the reign of Endre I. So the cemetery had been in use for 70-80 years. Anthropological studies of the material identified 16 adults and 14 individuals of mature age. So almost half of the dead adults was over the age of 40. From this it follows that the cemetery was used by three generations of one community. The earliest burials represent the first generation, the 70-80 years further two generations. The woman in grave 16, and one man in the same row, her spouse, belonged to the first generation. This couple was the leader of the joint family. Their children are to be found among the dead of the second generation.These were in graves 37, 18,20, 14 and I, as well as graves 15 and 21. Grave 42 possibly belongs here too. Of the 8 individuals belonging to the second generation, 5 were women and only 3 were men. So the missing men are to be found in the second row. Graves 41, 36, 22, 23, 24, 26, 5, 1 and 2 belong to the third generation beyond doubt. The graves of the fourth row, and graves 44 and 48 of the first row probably belong here too. The pertinent generation of all the other graves can be determined with more or less uncertainty on the basis of the above conclusions. As a result we obtain that the cemetery was founded by one joint family (women in grave 16 and her spouse); their children are the women in graves 18 and 20 and their husbands; their grandchildren are the women in graves 36 and 39 and their husbands. There may have been unmarried men, possibly also men in servitude, in the family. The women in graves 14 and I were also the children of the first family. These already were separating from the second generation 176